There has been an escalation in the cost of treating erectile dysfunction through Viagra and other drugs for medical card holders as this is a serious condition for both middle-aged and elderly men.

The taxpayer has paid €28m under the general medical services scheme since it was introduced here in 1999.

Alex White, the Minister of State has affirmed that the number of prescriptions has risen from 29,000 in 2000 to 61,000 in 2005 and 104,000 by 2010.

This figure increased again in 2011 to 115,000 prescriptions and is continuing to rise. 29% of the prescriptions issued were for men aged between 55 and 64.

The amount of Viagra being dispensed to medical card holders is increasing and Fine Gael TD Billy Timmins has said he will be contacting the Health Minister, James Reilly to find out the reasons for this.

“I am at a loss to understand this trend”, he said.

Viagra is manufactured in Co Cork by the Pfizer company. The HSE has said Viagra is also prescribed for pulmonary arterial hypertension. But the HSE does not know how many prescriptions were for this condition and how many were for erectile dysfunction.

The HSE has now limited the amount of tablets available to medical card patients each month to safeguard the system and to make sure it was not being abused.

A spokeswoman for the HSE said, “To ensure availability for genuine need, but to reduce the possibility of inappropriate usage, the expert group advised that the maximum reimbursable level on the GMS and Community Drugs Schemes be set at four tablets a month.”

An equivalent generic can not be produced until the product is out of patent.

Viagra sales hit an all time record of €3.5m.

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The ban commenced on the 29^th March, 2004 and included restaurants, bars and pubs.

A study that started immediately after the ban was introduced included researchers from Brunel University in London, the Environmental Health Sciences Institute, Dublin Institute of Technology, and The Tobacco Free Research Institute Ireland (TFRI).

The director of TFRI and a member of the research team, Luke Clancy said that since Ireland became the first country in the world to apply a national workplace smoking ban, it was important to ascertain that there are significant health benefits.

“Previous studies have shown decreases in cardiovascular mortality following the implementation of comprehensive smoking bans,” said Prof Clancy. “Our study shows that mortality decreases were primarily due to reductions in passive smoking, rather than a reduction in active smoking, and we remember that this [protection from passive smoke] was the basis for the introduction of the 2004 legislation.”

“The study now shows a 26% reduction in heart disease [ischemic heart disease, IHD], a 32% reduction in stroke, and a 38% reduction in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [COPD] mortality,” said Prof Clancy.

“Post-ban significant reductions in IHD, stroke, and COPD mortalities were seen in age groups 65 years and older. COPD mortality reductions were found particularly in females.

“Unadjusted estimates indicate that 3,726 smoking-related deaths were likely prevented post-ban.”

Prof Clancy reported that the national smoking ban was linked with immediate reductions in early mortality. “Importantly, post-ban risk differences did not change with a longer follow-up period,” he said.

“This study corroborates previous evidence for cardiovascular causes, and is the first study to demonstrate reductions in stroke and respiratory causes.”

1st for Ireland’s health as nearly 4,000 lives have been saved since the smoking ban started in 2004.

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Mount Carmel based in South Dublin has written to the Medical Council rebuffing their worries with regards to a fitness-to-practice inquiry about surgical practices there.

Dr Patrick Gerard Rafferty who is a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at both Mount Carmel and Landscape Clinic has been found guilty of five allegations of professional misconduct.

Dr Danny O’Hare, who is the chairman of the inquiry committee, said there were concerns about Dr Rafferty preforming surgery without making sure there was another surgeon or surgical nurse present.

“If that practise had been in place in Mount Carmel at the time and if it were to continue in Mount Carmel then any surgeon observing that protocol would be putting patients in danger,” Mr O’Hare said.

Dr Julian Dockeray, clinical director of women and children’s health at the hospital said he rejected “in the clearest possible terms”, any suggestion that “surgical procedure practices at Mount Carmel are not undertaken to the highest possible standards”.

“It is Mount Carmel Hospital protocol that a minimum six medical and nursing professionals, including a consultant surgeon, a consultant anaesthetist, four trained theatre nurses and a minimum of one theatre assistant are present at each surgical procedure,” he said.

Dr Dockeray also said that all the surgeons working at Mount Carmel had to comply with the Royal College of Surgeons standards and that the hospital is accredited by the Joint Commission International which is an organisation that oversees standards in health care.

Mount Carmel currently treats 40,000 patients per year and said it places “paramount importance on patient safety” and “maintaining the trust and confidence of the patients” it serves.

“It is deeply regrettable that any negative implication concerning our surgical practices may have arisen at this inquiry,” said Dr Dockeray.

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The latest research has said that bras are of no help in supporting a woman’s breasts and may possibly be doing harm rather than good.

A study conducted in France has declared that breasts get no benefits from wearing supportive bras and we would do just as well not wearing one.

Besancon University’s Professor Jean-Denis Rouillon has studied the anatomy of 330 women for 15 years and has concluded that wearing a bra is a “false necessity”.

The studies show that the women who did not wear a bra had firmer breasts that did not sag as much and were no more prone to back pain.

“Medically, physiologically, anatomically – breasts gain no benefit from being denied gravity,” he said.

Professor Rouillon has said that breasts become dependent on lingerie and the support it gives once you start wearing it. This in turn leads to the supporting muscles being underused and therefore degrading more quickly.

However he advises that women who have used bras for years should not stop using them.

So maybe all those years ago when women tied their bras to the railings, it was a good idea for a number of reasons…….

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Your Curriculum Vitae (CV) has been sent out and you have been called to interview. This is your chance to sell yourself verbally and let your interviewer or interviewers know you are the right person for the job.

They will note everything you say and take in your appearance and mannerisms.

Know your CV inside out – you will be talking about your career and work history and why you are the perfect candidate for the job.

12 essential speaking skills every candidate/jobseeker should have:

1. Know your topic – Do the research to enable you to communicate your message.
2. Focus – Hold your audience’s attention – use humour and stories that help connect to the main idea. Points told in a story are easier to remember.
3. Use logical organisation – if your presentation is well organised it can taken in with minimal effort.
4. Intonation, pace, tone and volume are vital – a monotone voice will put your audience asleep.
5. Open strongly and finish even more strongly – your audience will remember your first and last words.
6. Use quotations, statistics and facts – use them to compliment your concepts and ideas.
7. Connect and interact with your audience – eye contact is essential – ask questions and listen to the answers
8. Evaluate your audience – convey the information and message they need to hear.
9. Work within the time allocated – customise your presentation to fit the time allowed.
10. Have confidence and composure – not always easy to attain but the audience will sense it.
11. If the interview allows have a question and answer session and use this to portray yourself as the expert and not just a speaker.
12. Cope with unexpected issues efficiently – unforeseen problems may arise – the projector may not work – have a plan to deal with any situation that may come about.

The only thing left to do is to wish you “good luck”.

For further advice click here.

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New research has found that taking a wander from your desk every half hour is more important in combating diabetes than working out at the gym.

The academics at Leicester University have found there are dangers of sitting still for long periods of time even if you take regular exercise.

Cutting the sitting time by 90 minutes a day had important health benefits when this was tested out by the researchers on 900 patients.

They studied and evaluated the amount of time people spent sitting and how often they got up and also the amount of moderate to vigorous exercise they took.

These results were then tested as to how much they were related to the levels of blood sugar and “good” cholesterol which can be used to discover the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.

Whilst it is of course beneficial to take exercise as this does give a lower risk of developing diabetes, it was discovered that reducing the amount of time spent sitting was more important.

“These studies provide preliminary evidence that sedentary behaviour may be a more effective way to target the prevention of Type 2 diabetes, rather than just solely focusing on moderate-to-vigorous physical activity” said Joseph Henson who is in the university’s Diabetes Research Unit.

The Department of Health’s recommended exercise guidelines advise that people exercise moderately or vigorously – which means building up a sweat – for a minimum of 30 minutes a day, five times a week.

So, take a wander for your health.

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A UK survey conducted online to 783 doctors has shown that many of them are willing to prescribe placebos (”sugar pills”).

The findings show that the doctors feel that prescribing sugar pills can help patients psychologically in their well-being.

Of those that responded 97% said they had used treatments that did not have any therapeutic significance for the condition prescribed, for example antibiotics for the common cold or a possible virus.

50% of the doctors who prescribed pure placebos told the patients that this sort of therapy had helped a lot of other patients. A quarter told patients that the treatment was a help to self-healing. Only one in ten actually told the patient that the prescribed treatment was a placebo.

The research revealed that 12% of the respondents had prescribed “sugar pills” (pure placebos) or saline injections without any clinically active ingredients.

33% of the doctors felt that this procedure was never acceptable and two out of three believed it was ethically acceptable under certain circumstances.

Blood tests and unnecessary examinations are also included as impure placebos.

However, the research did show that usually the doctors were using placebos with the best of intentions to help the patients.

Dr Jeremy Howick of Oxford University and one of the lead researchers said, “The placebo effect works by releasing our body’s own natural painkillers into our nervous system. In my opinion the stigma attached to placebo use is irrational, and further investigation is needed to develop ethical, cost-effective placebos.”

But the widespread feeling is that the prescription of placebos is basically unethical.

A healthy mind – sugar pill or placebo anyone?

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A doctor denies the charge of refusing to treat a little girl as the mother had no money and was waiting for a medical card.

He said it was his policy to treat patients irrespective of whether they had the money to pay for the consultation.

Dr Jerry Nasstrom was found guilty by the Medical Council on one count of professional misconduct for refusing or failing to treat the 1 and ½ year old girl at his surgery in the Coolock Health Centre in Dublin in January last year.

The hearing which went on for a day, found that beyond reasonable doubt the GP had failed to treat the child and therefore had “fallen seriously short” of what one would expect of a doctor.

The Medical Council will decide on what sanction to impose.

The child had a lump on her neck “the size of a golf ball” and her mother claimed the doctor had put her “life on the line” when he refused to treat her because she didn’t have the €40 fee.

The child was brought to Temple Street Children’s Hospital where treatment was given for an abscess on her neck.

Dr Nasstrom had asked the mother if she had a medical card and she explained she had applied for one.

“He came back out and told me he couldn’t find it (card). I asked him to take a look at my daughter and he told me it would cost €40,” she said.

“He clearly wasn’t happy to see her. If that was the case he shouldn’t have let me walk out of the health centre. He turned my child away and put her life on the line.”

When giving his evidence Dr Nasstrom said a large number of his patients had financial problems and he had never refused to treat anyone on the basis of not being able to pay.

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Studies have shown that whilst women want to feel successful at work, money is not the most important issue – they want a work-life balance and turn down positions that could negatively impact on this.

A report carried out by Defining Success did an online survey which included a minimum of 100 business executives and professionals from Ireland.

The results from the Irish respondents showed that 58pc of women and 64pc of men thought you could “have your cake and eat it” in relation to a successful career and family. But globally only 50pc think you can have it all, just not at the same time.

Getting the right work-life balance is not easy but is very important. Money is defined as success by 44pc of professional Irish women but 70pc believe it’s a work-life balance. 64pc of men perceived the money and work-life balance as equal in terms of success.

Paula Neary the managing director for the health and public service for Accenture Ireland said, “Over the course of their careers, professionals will continue to define and redefine what success looks like. For many, career goals and personal priorities will take precedence at different times. As today’s professionals strive to find the right balance, leading companies will find innovative ways to help them develop, grow and thrive.”

However, money is still very important as 70pc of Irish women consider that more money would make them feel more successful in their careers.

Of the 50pc who asked for a pay rise, 75pc were successful which is heartening for those who are currently disgruntled at work. The main reason for being discontented at work is the feeling of being undervalued and underpaid.

A high majority of women – 76pc deem it vital to feel valued and work done well to be rewarded as this creates a happy work atmosphere and environment. If work goes unnoticed it is the greatest factor to creating a negative work environment.

The most important thing related to career development and encouraging employees to further their careers was a job that really makes a difference.

Women and work – get the balance right.

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The hospital which cost €22 million will replace the macabre St Brendan’s Hospital which was built in the early 19^th century.

Dr Reilly and the Junior Health Minister Kathleen Lynch, along with a group of doctors and officials were stuck in the lift for around 15 minutes.

Despite some frantic button pressing and trying to force the doors open by worried staff and the minister himself the lift would not budge.

An engineer was called and subsequently opened the doors and released the captives.

The minister was hoping the opening of the new hospital would distract attention from the row over the binning of the mobility allowance.

But the opening ceremony had to be delayed as he was immobilised himself.

After the doors were prised open the Minister laughed off the situation and continued with his tour of the hospital which is opening for patients at the end of next month.

Maybe he will use the stairs next time.

Which after all is better for your health!

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